sectors about what s working, from communities, government, business, nonprofits, and young people themselves. we hope you ll be really attuned to these success stories, because many of them can be replicated in your own community. we also hope you ll be attuned to the new ways you can work with others in your community. one thing we have learned, cross sector collaboration is critical if communities are going to succeed in raising graduation rates and preparing young people for success in college and in careers. we can t do it in silos. everyone can help end the community dropout crisis. parents, youth, business, leaders, policymakers and others. united together. we can ensure all of our young people can live up to their full potential and truly realize the american dream. thank you. our first speaker, randall stevenson, is a long-time friend and supporter of america s promise alliance. as chairman of at&t, the world s largest telecom company, he helped spearhead the mobil
with unemployment still high, a skills gap, a fiscal crisis and a sticky ladder of social mobility, the economy is the nation s top problem. education is one solution. secretary duncan, as mrs. powell mentioned, who will be with us shortly, said we need to educate our way to a better economy. but also the chairman of the federal reserve ben bernanke said in the long term the best way by far to improve economic opportunity and to reduce inequality is to increase the educational attainment and skills of america s workers. so our report begins with this data because we know from the 100 summits in all 50 states that america s promise led that it was the economic case for action that helped spur policymakers and business leaders and other stakeholders to accelerate their efforts. so what s at stake? the education to jobs equation is completely flipped. a generation ago, 72% of america s jobs required high school or less. by the end of the decade, 75% of all jobs will require high